San Jose State and Cal State East Bay universities confirmed this week they’re planning to offer some small in-person classes and a big dose of online courses in the next academic year as uncertainty about the spread of the coronavirus persists.

Santa Clara University, on the other hand, says it intends to hold regular physical classes during the next academic year, although it’s keeping some options open.

Meanwhile, Stanford, UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University are still mulling what to do.

California State University Fullerton announced Tuesday it would begin the fall semester with online classes only, one of the first universities to signal its intention to keep the doors shut.

But even at San Jose State and Cal State East Bay, students hoping to return to giant lecture halls filled with hundreds of classmates will be disappointed. It’s not going to happen. Those lessons will continue to be offered online, just as they’ve been this spring after shelter-in-place orders were issued in mid-March.

As for tuition, it’s likely to be the same — online classes or not.

“Our goal is a hybrid,” San Jose State Provost Vincent Del Casino said in an interview Wednesday. “But it’s hybrid in two ways because face-to-face will be there for some online classes. Even though we move online, a portion of the curriculum will still be where everyone meets together.”

Because social distancing likely will remain in effect long after the shelter orders are lifted, Del Casino said “most of our lecture-related classes” will be fully online in the fall.

For classes that cannot be held online, particularly the performance-based ones such as art and dance, as well as labs, the school is “trying to figure out how to offer them face-to-face but with the parameters required for physical distancing” and for “masks to protect people” if necessary, Del Casino said.

At Cal State East Bay in Hayward, Provost Edward Inch envisions a similar approach. He said it’s “likely that the campus would have a limited physical opening” in the fall, with officials currently trying to determine which classes should be held in-person and which online.

Large lecture classes “are going to be recommended to be entirely online,” Inch said. That would free up space in those big rooms to allow for roughly 30 socially-distanced students. He said a priority will be given to classes necessary for graduation and graduate-level courses.

“Those are the ones trying to hone their skills in the physical environment,” Inch said. “Things like nursing and education. Nurses need access to equipment and educators need access to students. We’re exploring keeping certain facilities open on a much longer basis, including Saturday and Sunday, to allow more student access.”

But not all universities are on the same page; most are still waiting on local public health officials to give the green light to reopen.

University of California System spokesman Andrew Gordon said in a written statement that all UC “campuses will reopen for on-site instruction when it is safe to do so — in coordination with federal, state and local health departments and authorities.”

San Francisco State University, Stanford University and UC Berkeley said in separate statements they are not ready to release information about the fall semester yet.

Having already experienced about two months of online learning with another month to go before the end of the year, students who have clamored for lower tuition and reimbursements based on the “lower cost” of providing education are not likely to get it next year.

San Jose State’s Del Casino said “we have no plans to change (tuition), and I don’t think the system does either.” He said students who have been petitioning for tuition reimbursements on the assumption that online classes are cheaper to administer don’t have their facts straight.

“When you look at overall costs, the costs don’t go down in an online environment,” said Del Casino, who while working at the University of Arizona launched its Arizona Online learning system.

“Faculty and staff support, none of that changes. If anything it’s the flip, it costs more on the initial front end in terms of training and development and getting the right assets in place than often face-to-face instruction.”

Those aren’t the only costs universities must grapple with. They’re still trying to determine the financial impact of COVID-19 on their workforce.

Inch said Cal State East Bay has temporarily frozen hiring and will not be replacing recently vacated positions because it expects a 6% to 8% drop in enrollment next year, though the school isn’t planning any furloughs or layoffs yet.

“Diminished resources is the assumption,” Inch said. “We’re preparing how we would be able to manage with the resources we have available to teach the students we expect to be here.”

Not all universities are in the same boat, though. Santa Clara University Provost Lisa Kloppenberg said the school hasn’t seen “an increase in students deferring their enrollment for Fall.”

San Jose State’s Del Casino said he doesn’t know what enrollment will look like and the question will “probably live with us up until the start of the semester.” However, he said in the near term he suspects students will want to go to school and not defer.

“Gap years historically have been used to work and to travel,” Del Casino said. “Well, you can’t travel and the job market is not strong, so where are people going to go in a gap year? The best option is to continue your education.”

Lori Martinson, a guidance counselor for seniors at Santa Teresa High School in San Jose, said she believes more students are going to attend local colleges than in the past.

“I still have seen that students are going to college all over California, but my hunch is that more of our students are going to stay in the area,” Martinson said. “If I was the parent of a senior right now, I would encourage them to stay local because I would want them to be home.”

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